By David W. Brown
H
is name is Larry Thompson, but you probably know him as Mr. Shrimp. In the last few months, his seafood pop-ups have become must-see (and taste) events at Rouses Market on Tchoupitoulas in Uptown New Orleans. His Throw It in the Pot seafood boil appeared in select markets and then disappeared, as people just couldn’t get enough of it. Today he is in recovery mode from Hurricane Ida, which wiped out his capacity to make the seasoning and rendered his house unlivable. He’s not giving up, though—the man is tenacious and knows
how to work—and is working with Rouses Markets to keep “feeding the people,” as he likes to say. Pre-Ida, Mr. Shrimp might have seemed like an overnight success, but Thompson has been in the culinary industry his whole life. He started at the House of Blues, where the chefs hired him to work as a dishwasher. He was 13. Soon after, he was promoted to prep cook—a job that opened the door to his next job, at Semolina’s. He worked there during his high school years. The restaurant enrolled the future Mr. Shrimp in classes that covered everything that involved cooking. He went from dishwasher to pantry to sauté station to grill to key supervisor, and then a manager—a job that involved yet more training on how to run both the front and back of the house. Over the years, he would also work at Macaroni Grill, Margaritaville, and Chili’s. The next phase of his career began in 2019 while he acted as caretaker for his father, who had lung cancer. His dad was a former Marine—”a real tough guy,”
Thompson says—who loved his son’s cooking, and always enjoyed having full meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. “When it came to lunch, he always wanted seafood—fish, shrimp—he wanted the works! And one day I was cooking it for him, and he said, ‘Wow, I’ve been all over the world and I never knew the best cook came out of me!’ I thought he was just telling me that because I’m his son.”
ida hits home
WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS, THROW ‘EM IN THE POT
After his father died, Thompson considered opening a restaurant, and linked up with local fishermen. (His shrimp comes strictly from the Gulf of Mexico.) Once he saw the quality of the shrimp, which included a lesscommon extra colossal variety, his plans changed slightly. He decided to become a wholesaler and sell the shrimp as part of a home and business delivery service. He had the training and experience from the restaurant industry. The transportation part of his background came from his father, who was a truck driver for the federal government. “I had both of those things: the cooking and the transportation part, and that’s how we got here.”
PHOTO BY ROMNEY CARUSO
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